Culture Minister Haifa Najjar on Monday reiterated that Jordan will remain a staunch supporter of Arab causes and truly uphold the Hashemite custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and safeguard the city’s history and heritage.In a keynote address to the 12th Islamic Culture Ministers conference, which opened in Doha today, Najjar said Jordan took the lead in calling for a comprehensive vision to safeguard Arab and Islamic cultural heritage and spread the values of tolerance, moderation and participation through the Amman Message, which is the core of a comprehensive system of human values, as well as the “Common Word” initiative, which advocates for peace and coexistence.She stressed Jordan’s vision on creativity and innovation, shunning “pastism” and promoting Islam in its image as a faith of tolerance, light, giving, love, diversity and pluralism.She said that cultural renewal is a pilot civilizational project, whose formulation requires a critical review, in-depth dialogues, an
d bias to reason and rationality.The key issues of cultural renewal are represented by full belief in the Islamic nation’s constants, values, heritage and knowledge product, with a focus on moral values, countering extremist ideologies and formulating an integrated human, civilizational and cultural enterprise that is capable of preserving the Arab identity and making use of globalization means and modern technologies.During the opening session of the conference, entitled “Towards Renewing Cultural Work in the Islamic World,” Jordan was elected as a member of the Islamic World Heritage Committee of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), which organized the conference.The conference, attended by culture ministers of ISESCO member states, in addition to representatives of regional and international organizations working in the cultural and heritage fields, will tackle renewal of joint cultural work and ways to enhance cooperation among Islamic countries.
Source: Jordan Ne
ws Agency